Yorkshire Devolution: Parliamentary Debate
October 11, 2017
In a debate held in Parliament yesterday regarding Yorkshire devolution, Julian made clear that York risked being left behind as a result of slow progress in securing a deal for the area. The debate, introduced by John Grogan, the Member of Parliament for Keighley focused upon options for devolving powers to Yorkshire and was well attended by MPs from the region.
The Minster, in his response, asserted that he was happy to meet with leaders to discuss a Greater Yorkshire arrangement “which could be an exciting and groundbreaking devolution deal, passing real power and real influence from the people in London back to the people of Greater Yorkshire.”
Speaking after the debate, Julian said: “I have always made clear that inaction is not in the best interests of Yorkshire and my intervention today expressed my frustration that Manchester, Liverpool and the Tees Valley have secured city deals whilst we do not seem to be making progress.
What we need is secure progress towards delivering, at the very least, a Greater Yorkshire deal comprising North, West and East Yorkshire. This will give us the greatest amount of powers over strategic transport planning and economic regeneration. Encouragingly, the Government is supportive of this proposal and we now need to push ahead.”
